State responds to Severstal scandal: We did not put industry before people

May 14, 2014

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday that it has increased the level of emissions allowed under Severstal's air-quality permit. / February photo by Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press

The continued mischaracterizations of the permitting process obscures the fact that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has worked tirelessly on an air-quality permit for one of the state’s largest industrial complexes, and with a clear goal to craft a permit that protects public health and the environment.

The controversy surrounding this 100-page permit involves a blast furnace project installed in 2007 to increase the steelmaker’s production by 7,000 tons of iron per day. Federal law requires every operator to obtain a permit before installing equipment, so operators develop a reasonable estimate of their emissions. Sometimes, the permit must be adjusted once the equipment is installed, operating and tested.

The Severstal project was tested in 2008. While the emissions were above the estimates written into the permit, they were below the thresholds established in the federal Clean Air Act. It was clear that the company would need its limits raised to match their outputs. So began the long process of “perfecting” the permit.

What is important is crafting a permit that accurately reflects the operation, because — particularly in areas with heavy industrialization — the total cumulative impact of all sources is measured to ensure that overall air quality is maintained within federal limits.

The Free Press reporting implies this is somehow inappropriate, but this is how every air quality permit for every major operator is crafted, from Detroit to Pittsburgh to Chicago. Exceeding one’s permitted levels is not the same as exceeding federal air protection levels.

The Free Press assertion that emissions will increase 725 times the present levels for one substance, lead, is flatly wrong. The permit increase is actually 74 times — which, for the particular lead source referenced in the reporting and editorial, is 2.4 ounces per day. The total lead emissions for the plant under the new permit are a third of the federal threshold. A Free Press editorial on the issue didn’t make clear that the permit request reflects what is actually emitted. Severstal’s actual emissions have remained mostly unchanged since 2008.

(Page 2 of 2)

The Free Press has offered, repeatedly, that the department’s tone changed as a result of a 2012 inquiry by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The question posed by the Free Press is a fair one — “Was there an inappropriate involvement by the MEDC?” The answer is clearly no. The DEQ’s enforcement action has never let up, and the department was joined by federal agencies and state Attorney General Bill Schuette to resolve a series of environmental violations accrued over the past few years. Severstal will be held accountable, and the DEQ has never wavered on that.

The department’s goal is the same here as it is for any permit-holder: compliance. And the agency has never let up on that goal, either. The permitting process involves neighbors, community groups, environmental groups, business groups, legislators and anyone who seeks to be involved.

Our job is to protect public health and the environment, and broad input supports that goal. But partners and stakeholders inform the process, they don’t lead it.

Some have said we should resolve the enforcement issues before approving the permit. The two are separate issues. The enforcement is for violations yesterday. The permit covers the operation for tomorrow and beyond.

Some have said we should make the operator meet the limits set in 2006. Whenever a permit is adjusted, the DEQ makes permit-holders explain why they can’t meet original limits. Severstal did this. By law, as long as the actual emissions from an operation remain under federal limits, the government’s job is to craft a permit that captures the actual levels and hold the operator accountable for that permit.

Ultimately, everyone involved in this permitting process did what they exist to do: The company makes steel; the MEDC supported a Michigan businesses, and the DEQ worked to make sure the steelmaker complies with the law.

The Snyder administration has invested heavily in improving the environment and overall quality of life, in southeast Michigan and around the state. The implication that urban residents are less important than urban industries is ridiculous. We are demonstrably committed to both, and the permitting and enforcement of major operators like Severstal Steel proves it, time and time again.